Borussia Mönchengladbach also solved the mandatory task in the league against VfL Bochum four days after the historic cup triumph against Bayern Munich – but had to tremble again in the final phase. The five-time German champions defeated the newly promoted 2-1 (2-0) and moved up to tenth place.
Alassane Plea (12th) and Jonas Hofmann (40th) scored to win the first duel with VfL since the relegation games ten years ago. Borussia was completely superior for a long time, but Danny Blum (86th) caused a few anxious minutes with a remarkable free kick from the edge of the box. After the first defeat after three competitive games, Bochum is in 14th place one point ahead of the relegation place.
In contrast to the cup gala (5-0), coach Adi Hütter changed his team in one position. Plea replaced the injured Jordan Beyer. The change in personnel also involved a system change. Instead of 3-4-2-1, Borussia played in the more offensive 4-2-3-1. And in front of 42,361 spectators, the Gladbachers, who were still unbeaten at home, got off to a stormy start. Three corners after six minutes and the first chance by Nico Elvedi (3rd) gave the direction.
Danny Blum comes and meets
Bochum had some problems defensively with the variable playing hosts. After a perfect cross from Joe Scally, the completely alone Plea headed effortlessly for the lead. VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann was without a chance.
Borussia continued to dominate the game, but in contrast to the memorable cup evening, some mistakes crept into the combinations.
Even defensively, the Gladbachers allowed themselves carelessness from time to time. Bochum lacked the quality to punish them. The foal eleven had this. Plea made a good look for Hofmann, and the international pounded the ball into the goal from a slightly acute angle. This remarkable action put the fans in a celebratory mood for almost the entire half-time break.
Guest coach Thomas Reis reacted to the poor performance of his team in the first round and brought fresh strength for Gerrit Holtmann and Cristian Gamboa after the restart in Danny Blum and Konstantinos Stafylidis. That changed little in terms of the course of the game. Bochum tried hard, but Gladbach just better. After a pass from his captain Lars Stindl, Plea narrowly missed the third goal (53rd).
On the other hand, Yann Sommer was initially challenged against Takuma Asano (70th), Vasileios Lampropoulos extended the subsequent corner to the post (71th). Gladbach missed the final decision through Hofmann (74th), and Blum made it exciting again. In addition to the victory, those in charge of Gladbach were also satisfied with the parallel draw in the DFB Cup. In the second round it goes to the second division Hannover 96